I'd say we'll easily hit KWD parity after the print article appears in Forbes, and once that happens more print articles are likely (Economist, anyone?). So 20USD isn't that much of a stretch within the year.

Well, has Bruce put his money where his mouth is? i.e. is he using all his disposable income to buy as many bitcoins as he can? If he puts the probability of $1000 at year's end at even 10% then this is the ohvious thing to do---even if he's most interested in promotional work, he can engage in it much more efficiently by first becoming filthy rich.

Bruce Wagner is telling everyone that bitcoin will worth 1000$ by year end. Yes it's a bit insane. But it just might happen! Exciting times...

Just might happen? You're kidding, right? To use a bit of possible world semantics, If by 'it just might happen' you mean that there's a possible world in which at the end of this year the value of a bitcoin is ~60,000% greater than it is now, then, sure. But, that's not really saying that much, since on that sense of 'it just might happen' it also just might happen that I sprout wings.

I would bet (and I am betting) that it will reach $10 by the end of the year. In order to ascend to $100, the software will need to be updated to support fractions below two decimals.

However, I'm like to make a couple more additional predictions.

First, that the price on MtGox will surpass $10 before the end the of year.

Second, that MtGox.com, and their US Bank account, will be seized by .gov before BTC reaches $100.

So basically, MtGox.com (and their US Bank, and possibly the Euro bank) will be seized when bitcoin is between $10 and $100.

MtGox going down, even if they have backups, will set back the price of bitcoin for some time. We need a secondary, completely offshore (funding and withdrawals through LR and wire transfer only) exchange before this happens. Several offshore exchanges supplemented by a network of inter-exchangers will be more robust, and necessary for a sustained increase in bitcoin price. If MtGox is the only one, its just a bubble the feds are waiting to pop at the most painful moment.

It is operated from Japan. ACH deposits go to a Chase bank account, and the web server is in kentucky (IIRC).

EDIT: Even if the web server in kentucky is just a VPN to somewhere offshore, where the web server isn't important and can be changed in hours. Where the bank funds (MtGox USD) are stored is the critical part.